LAWRENCE  J.  GUTTER 

Collection  of  Chicogoono 

THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   ILLINOIS 
AT  CHICAGO 

The  University  Library 


IN   MEMORIAM 

JOSEPH    KlRKLAND 

BORN  JANUARY  7,  1830 
DIED  APRIL  29,  1894 


Chicago   Literary   Club 
1894 


THIS  Memorial  of  our  late  fellow- 
member,  Joseph  Kirkland,  was  read 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Club  on  Monday  even- 
ing, May  28,  1894,  and  ordered  printed  and 
copies  sent  to  the  members  of  the  Club. 

Frederick  W.  Gookin, 

Recording  Secretary. 


JOSEPH    KIRKLAND. 

As  one  by  one  the  members  of  this  Club 
pass  from  life,  there  is  no  more  becoming 
ceremony  than  that  which  commemorates  the 
loss  we  sustain  in  the  departure  from  our 
circle  of  a  worthy  member. 

Joseph  Kirkland  is  the  latest  loss  we  have 
been  called  upon  to  mourn.  He  was  born  in 
Geneva,  New  York,  January  7th,  1830,  of  a 
family  distinguished  on  his  father's  side  in 
the  history  of  the  country  and  of  his  native 
State,  tracing  descent  from  the  pilgrims  of 
Plymouth  and  other  notable  ancestors.  His 
mother  was  a  woman  well  known  in  the 
literary  annals  of  the  century.  His  father 
died  in  1846,  and  it  was  from  his  mother 
chiefly,  as  we  learn  from  his  own  statements, 
that  he  obtained  his  education. 

In  1856  he  removed  to  Chicago,  which  was 
his  home  until  he  died,  with  the  exception  of 
time  spent  in  the  army  during  the  Rebellion 
and  at  Danville,  Illinois,  while  engaged  in 
coal  mining  operations  in  that  neighborhood. 


His  service  in  the  army  was  from  the  date 
of  the  call  for  three-months  troops  until  the 
retirement  of  General  Fitz-John  Porter,  of 
whose  military  family  he  was  a  member.  He 
served  with  credit  in  the  West  Virginia  cam- 
paign, the  campaign  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  on  the  Peninsula,  the  campaigns  of 
the  Second  Bull  Run  and  Antietam,  as 
Second  Lieutenant  of  Infantry,  Captain  and 
Major  on  staff  duty  as  Aide  to  Generals 
George  B.  McClellan  and  Fitz-John  Porter. 

His  subsequent  life  was  spent  in  coal  min- 
ing business  until  1874,  in  the  Revenue  Ser- 
vice of  the  United  States  until  1880, — when 
at  the  age  of  fifty  he  was  admitted  to  the 
Bar  of  this  State,  graduating  first  in  his  class 
at  the  Law  School,  and  practicing  as  an 
attorney  until  1890. 

Major  Kirkland's  reputation,  however, 
rests  especially  on  his  literary  work.  In  1885 
he  published  his  first  novel,  "  Zury,  the 
Meanest  Man  in  Spring  County,"  and  at  once 
took  high  rank  as  a  novelist,  which  he  justi- 
fied by  two  later  works,  "The  McVeys," 
published  in  1887,  and  "  The  Captain  of  Com- 
pany K  "  in  1889.  He  contributed  noteworthy 
articles  on  ''  The  Poor  of  Chicago  "  to  Scrib- 


ner's  Magazine,  on  "Nicaragua"  to  Peter- 
son's Magazine,  and  on  "The  Chicago  Fire  " 
to  the  New  England  Magazine;  and  he  is 
also  the  author  of  two  histories  of  Chicago, 
one  of  which,  together  with  a  second  volume 
of  the  other,  is  yet  unpublished;  and  for  two 
years  he  was  the  Literary  Editor  of  the  Chi- 
cago Tribune.  His  contributions  to  this 
Club  have  been  many,  and  his  appearance  as 
an  essayist  was  always  welcomed  by  a  large 
attendance. 

His  death  was  to  his  many  friends  sudden 
and  unlooked  for.  It  is  needless  to  attempt 
to  draw  the  character  of  our  departed  friend. 
Few  men  are  able  to  receive  into  the  fold  of 
their  sympathy  so  many  persons  coming  from 
such  diverse  positions  in  life.  He  had  warm 
friends  amongst  the  highest  and  the  lowest. 
His  heart  was  tender  to  the  lowliest  of  God's 
creatures.  Cruelty  to  an  animal,  even  when 
under  the  name  of  scientific  inquiry  it  was 
attempted  to  be  justified  by  the  name  of  vivi- 
section, was  as  abhorrent  to  him  as  cruelty  to 
a  child  or  a  woman  is  to  most  men.  He 
made  it  a  matter  of  principle  always  to  have 
a  genial  word  of  greeting  for  everyone  he 
knew,  from  the  poorest  workingman  to  the 

7 


most  prominent  citizen;  and  what  to  his 
intimate  friends  appeared  one  of  his  most 
charming  traits  and  one  eminently  noticeable 
on  account  of  its  general  rarity,  was  his  abso- 
lute freedom  from  rancor.  The  sun  never  set 
on  his  wrath.  His  greeting  and,  what  was 
more,  his  feeling,  towards  one  on  the  morning 
following  some  business  dispute  or  difference, 
trifling  or  otherwise,  was  as  pleasant  as 
though  no  cloud  had  arisen. 

We  all  knew  and  loved  and  respected  him. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  anyone  who 
was  his  enemy.  His  kindness  of  disposition 
rendered  it  impossible  for  those  who  met  him 
to  be  other  than  his  friends,  and  while  kindly 
and  genial,  sympathetic  and  a  staunch  friend, 
his  morality  was  above  question  and  his 
honor  never  sullied  in  word  or  deed.  He  was 
a  true  gentleman,  without  fear  and  without 
reproach. 

David  Swing, 
William  Eliot  Furness, 
Joseph  L.  Silsbee, 
Alexander  A.  McCormick, 
John  G.  Shortall, 

Committee. 


PS 

QhR£ 


